Remnants of the Flame
by Wacko12
Summary: It has been two years since the defeat of Tartarus, Zeref's death...and the death of Natsu. Now ancient powers long before Zeref have begun to awaken and rise. As humans and dragons are dragged in an event that will change the world, can anyone survive the flames of war? Or will all be consumed by the Flame's Remnants? NaLu and other pairings. Violence, Romance, and Angst.
1. Extinguish Flames

**So this is like an alternate version of my "Prince of Fire" Story. I thought over it a lot and finally got down a good plot and storyline too. It's going to be NaLu like the other one along with other pairings. No hating okay!**

**(Magnolia Cemetery, Nighttime)**

It was raining that night, fitting actually seeing how so many gathered to mourn the passing of one person, a hero, a guild mate and a friend. The entire guild of Fairy Tail had gathered, excluding Gildarts Clive, the guild's ace, since he was still on his mission. No one had the guts to contact him and tell him the news, worried that he would cause untold amounts of damage in rage and sadness.

Many if not all the members of Fairy Tail were crying, some more then others as they listened to the speech being given. They along with various others stood in attention as Makarov Dreyar, the Third Guild Master of Fairy Tail, said his speech about the deceased person they had gathered for. He stood on a small stage allowing him to overlook the gathered mass of people. Beside him, lying on top of silver table was a coffin. The coffin was red with golden trims on it. At the top of the coffin's lid was a golden color Fairy Tail guild symbol and underneath it was a picture of a dark crimson dragon. The dragon's head was facing towards the guild symbol, mouth open and breathing fire, which surrounded the Fairy Tail's symbol, looking as if it was protecting it. Also next to the coffin was a large empty basket.

However one person wasn't really paying attention to the elder man's speech, her thoughts on other things. It was a busty blonde dressed in black, like all the others, named Lucy Heartfillia. She was crying silently while being comforted by an equally busty redhead next to her, Erza Scarlet. Lucy was still staring at her hands, the image still fresh in her, and other people's minds of that faithful day.

Lucy kept looking at them, not forgetting what was once on them.

Her hands still covered in blood.

The blood of Natsu Dragneel

And how they held his lifeless body in them.

**(A Week Ago, During Fairy Tail's Battle With Tartarus)**

"Are you sure it's this way Happy!?" A tired, dirty Lucy from three weeks ago asked the blue Exceed.

She didn't really need to ask as she could see the explosions caused by Zeref's and Natsu's battle. The two had been fighting for some time, about an hour actually, and Happy had last reported that the two were actually tied in terms of power, with Natsu somehow went into Dragon Force.

The battle against Tartarus, one of the three Dark Guilds of the Balam Alliance, which consisted of Demons created by the Book of Zeref, had gone chaotic, with the battle going from the dark guild's mobile island fortress towards one of the vast forests of Fiore. The demon's plans to activate Face, a magic pulse bomb, had been thwarted thanks to the female Exceed Carla and Wendy Marvell, the young Sky Dragon Slayer. And now the battle was mess, most of the Fairy Tail mages including Makarov were fighting against the grunts of the Dark Guild while a select few like Mirajane Strauss, Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster and Laxus Dreyar, the former having been cured from the magical particle barriers along with the rest of the Raijiinshu by Porlyusica, were fighting members of the Nin Demon Gates of Tartarus, the elite members of the Dark Guild. Said guild's master, E.N.D was defeated by Natsu before the Dragon Slayer took on Zeref. Currently Lucy was running towards the battlefield of said people to see if Natsu was all right.

"Of course I'm sure! And I bet an entire year's worth of fish that they're fighting over there!" Happy exclaimed loudly.

Suddenly another and familiar voice shouted from afar. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Hidden Fire Form: Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!" And right after that was a huge explosion, with flames flying everywhere. While most people would runaway from such a thing, that made Lucy run towards it even faster, Happy right behind her, knowing that something big just happened if Natsu used that technique. What she didn't know was that the explosion caught the attention of the others, both Fairy Tail and Tartarus but right now what was on Lucy's mind was reaching Natsu.

When Lucy arrived she saw that the entire surrounding area had changed due to the battle between Natsu and Zeref. Trees, rocks and even large portions of the ground had been uprooted and thrown aside like rag dolls. There were many massive craters all around with even smaller ones in them. And in the largest crater, in the very center was a panting but standing Natsu looking over a down Zeref. As she looked down from the edge of the crater, Lucy could make outer Zeref's mouth slowly moving, as if saying something to Natsu, but she couldn't make out the words.

When Zeref finally stopped moving and his eyes closed, having a peaceful look on his face Lucy thought, she yelled out. "Natsu!" Lucy said as she began sliding down the sides of the crater towards the pink haired boy. She noticed Happy wasn't with her anymore, probably went to find the others, most likely Erza and Gray since they hadn't been far behind when Lucy went to find Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer turned around, his faces a bit bruised and tired with blood running down his face, and when he saw Lucy he smiled a tired smile. Clearly the battle with Zeref took a toll on him as Natsu looked like he was going to fall any second. "Yo Lucy! You doing okay, you look kind of tired." He said cheekily as if he hadn't just finished a tremendous fight to the death.

Lucy just smiled; she couldn't help but let out a little laugh at Natsu's usual carefree attitude. But then the atmosphere seemed to have changed like the flick of a switch. For at the same time as a look of shock and fear appeared on Natsu's face, a shadow suddenly over fell Lucy. Natsu' seemed to have shouted something but his voice was mute while Lucy spun around just in time to see the Demon named Jackal lunge at her.

"How dare you lowly humans kill Zeref-sama!" Jackal cried in rage as he lunged his right hand forward towards Lucy. Time seemed to slow down as Lucy watched with wide eyes as the hand descended towards her, the demon's intentions of impaling her with it. But time seemed to have quickly sped up as blood was suddenly flying in the air and a few drops splashing her face. But it wasn't her blood and right now, seeing whom it belonged too, she wished it were hers. For standing in between Lucy and Jackal, arms raised and facing her with the latter's hand sticking out of his chest, was Natsu. His blood flew out of his chest with most of it on Jackal's hand.

"N-Natsu…" Lucy voice said, low and quiet, her eyes wide in disbelief and horror at what she was looking at. Before she could do anything else two blurs, one blue and the other red, suddenly passed by her and struck Jackal, causing the demon's hand to come out of Natsu's chest as he was sent flying backwards, crashing into the ground with dust arising from the impact. The two blurs were in fact Gray and Erza, the former with his Cold Excalibur in his hand while the latter wore her Black Wing Armor and held her dual axes. Both glared at the Demon who injured their friend with unrestrained rage. But none of that made any connection to Lucy, whom was only focused on the pink dragon slayer.

"Natsu!" She cried, her voice now loud as she rushed to grab Natsu. The sudden add of weight caused Lucy to fall to her knees as she held Natsu close to her, his head resting on her right shoulder with her hands touching his back. Lucy didn't even seem to notice that her clothes were being stained with his blood and if she did she clearly didn't care.

"Hey…Luce…you okay…" Natsu asked weakly as his breathing became weak with blood seeping from his mouth.

Lucy looked at the dragon slayer in horror as she held him. "Why…" She whispered.

"Heh…I was so…low on magic…and tired…" Natsu said. "Only…thing I-I could…think of…" He finished while coughing out some blood.

"Why…why did you do that!? Why?" Lucy cried as tears began to form. By then Happy had arrived and he along with Erza and Gray were showing signs of shock and grief, tears forming in their eyes too. But still Lucy's focus was on Natsu.

Natsu laughed weakly, as if Lucy said something funny. "That's a dumb question to ask you weirdo…we're friends…what other reason is there…?" He replied before taking a deep breath, trying to stay conscious. "Ugh…I'm getting sleepy…"

Lucy's eyes widened at that. "N-no Natsu stay awake, please! We'll save you! Wendy, she and Porlyusica can help you!" She cried desperately. But even she knew that not even those two could do anything to save Natsu. Jackal's attack had gone straight through Natsu's chest, destroying a small but sizeable portion of Natsu's organs and bones. It was a miracle he could still speak.

"Nah…it's no good." Natsu replied. "I can't feel…anything…"

"Natsu…" Happy whispered, whose tears were running down his face like two waterfalls. By then the majority of the guild, either defeating their opponents or losing them in the chaos, had arrived, with Makarov hovering above them. At the sight many of them gasped while a lot of them, such as Mirajane, Lisanna, Elfman, Romeo, Cana, Macao, Wakaba and Levy had already begun crying while the more stoic individuals, mainly Laxus and Gajeel couldn't help but be shocked or on the brink of tears. Makarov himself had a pained look form on his face as he saw Natsu's fatal wound.

Natsu, not noticing the arrival of the guild, began speaking again. "You know…I really wanted to become S-Class…guess that won't be…happening now…" He chuckled to himself before coughing again. "Heh, I suppose the guild is going to be…less rowdy from now on." He didn't even notice Wendy, whom had just arrived, already beside him trying, and failing, to heal him with her eyes brimming with tears.

"Now…that I think about it…I was always causing trouble for everyone…especially gramps…" Natsu said, once more oblivious to the onlookers. "You too Lucy…I shouldn't have always been barging into your…apartment like I did." He added, not even feeling Lucy's tears as they ran down his back due to her clutching him so close to her. At the same time his guild symbol on his right shoulder slowly began to fade. "Picking fights with Gray, Erza, Gajeel and…Laxus. I must've been…really annoying to them. Gildarts too…even though I liked spending time with him…"

"Natsu…" Erza said her tears falling down like waterfalls and eyes closed. She couldn't even bear to look at one of her friends slowly dying. Gray was also crying profusely as he listened to his rival. To them it was like déjà vu, both of them losing another precious person.

"I think…the reason I did it…was because…" Natsu paused to take a deep breath as his guild symbol continued to fade. "Was because I was so…angry with Igneel for leaving me…I hated the entire world…because he left me." He the clutched the back of Lucy's shirt, desperately trying to finish what he wanted to say. "But…in some way…I'm happy he did…because I got to meet all of you…" He said with a small smile.

By then the entire guild was crying. However Natsu wasn't paying attention as he too had tears pouring out and snot coming from his nose. "Everyone…" He said causing everyone to be silent, besides the sniffles now and then, to hear what he had to say. "Thank you all so much…for being such a wonderful family!"

And with that Natsu's guild symbol faded entirely and he was silent. His hand that was clutching Lucy's shirt let go and the arm fell limp. Natsu's eyes closed with his face stained with tears and blood but a peaceful smile gracing his lips while his scarf hovered in the air due to the breeze blowing it. Lucy was the first to come out of her shock. "N-Natsu?" She asked softly as she moved the boy's body before her so she was now using her left hand to hold the back of Natsu's head. As if a switch went on by staring at his motionless body, Lucy let out a tearful scream. "NATSU!"

Soon everyone was crying profusely, even Laxus and Gajeel though to a lesser degree, as they mourned grievously over the pink dragon slayer's death shouting out his name now and then. Gray had lost the strength to stand and had fallen to his knees, gripping the dirt with his hands while crying and cursing. Erza was now crying loudly as she stared at Natsu's motionless body in Lucy's hands. Wendy covered her face with her hands, sobbing into them and Happy was bawling like crazy, hugging Natsu's arm while Lucy cradled his body close to her, unconsciously touching Natsu's head with hers, crying just as loud. Makarov however was silent, his eyes shadowed and his hands turned into fists and clenched them tightly.

The tearful moment was ruined however when someone shouted amongst the crowd, "Tartarus!"

True enough the remaining forces of the Dark Guild, led by the remaining Nine Demon Gate members, Kyouka, Tempesta, Ezel and Franmalth plus Minerva, were appearing towards the crater, opposite of where the Fairy Tail members had gathered. They stopped when Kyouka slowed down and looked down at the crater, staring at the motionless form of Zeref, something that Fairy Tail had forgotten about due to Natsu's death. The female demon grit her teeth in anger as she looked at her creator's corpse but then paused when she spotted Natsu's form. An idea quickly forming in her head Kyouka shouted to her forces. "Retrieve the dragon slayer's body! With it we may have a chance of resurrecting Zeref-sama!"

The Fairy Tail mages had heard her words and while many were enraged at what she said, they were still grieving over Natsu's death and their bodies weren't moving properly. But they were once again snapped out of their thoughts when an explosion appeared, right next to Gray and Erza, sending the two flying to the sides.

"Erza!" Mirajane shouted as the scarlet hair girl was sent flying.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted, watching the Ice Mage crashed into the ground.

At the center of the explosion was a very angry Jackal, dirt covering his body as he glared at his surroundings. His right hand was still covered in Natsu' s blood something Makarov took note of.

"Damn those two, now I'm really pissed off!" Jackal said before setting his sights on Lucy, Wendy and Happy before looking at Natsu's body. "Kyouka-san said to recover the bastard's body…but I'll take my time in killing you three!" Jackal sneered as he charged towards the two girls and one cat.

"Wendy!" Carla cried as she quickly flew towards the Sky Dragon Slayer. But the distance was too great and Jackal would reach them in time before anyone could save them. Well almost everyone…

"Jackal-sama!" A Tartarus soldier shouted towards the demon.

A shadow fell over Jackal, Lucy, Wendy and Happy as the former came to a complete stop when the sound of a foot smashing into the ground behind him could be heard. Jackal slowly turned his head around and he along with everyone else looked up to see a Titan-sized Makarov, standing about thirty-times his size, looming over the demon. Jackal couldn't help but sweat a bit at the magical power radiating from Makarov. And Makarov's eyes still being shadowed only increased the intimidation he was giving off.

Suddenly the giant master stared down at Jackal before raising his fist high before sending it downwards. As he brought his fist down various images of Natsu began to appear within Makarov's mind from the moment he met the Dragon Slayer and the years afterwards, all of that were fueling his magic with each image. And as he near the end of the flashes of images, the Fairy Tail Guild Master's fist made contact with Jackal's body, eyes now visible with nothing but rage with tears brimming too. Due to Makarov's size and the fact he added some of his magical aura to the fist, the impact caused a powerful shockwave that sent anyone near it flying backwards, such as Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy and Lucy, plus Natsu's body. The magic being released by Makarov was like a hurricane and lightning, sending everything near it flying everywhere. Both demons and humans were struggling to stay where they were, less they be blown away like sticks. "The Master is pissed!" The Sand Mage Max cried as he shielded his face. Other Fairy Tail members were thinking the same thing as they began creating some distance from the Master. They knew that in his current mind, Makarov might accidentally harm one of them.

However none of that reached Makarov as he lifted his fist. Surprisingly Jackal was still alive, though seriously wounded from Makarov's single attack. But that just made the Guild Master even angrier as he raised his right foot and brought it down on the demon. Jackal just barely rolled out of the way before being flattened by Makarov's boot. Makarov didn't stop there and began to pursue him, ignoring the explosions Jackal was firing at him as they hit his body. None of that mattered to Makarov right now; all that mattered right now was getting his hands on the bastard that killed one of his children and crushing him to death.

With Lucy, Happy and Carla fortunately managed grabbed her and Wendy respectively as they flew. The Exceeds used all their might to fly the two female mages to a safe distance during Makarov's tantrum with Lucy still clinging onto Natsu. Unfortunately the wind being released from the Guild Master was to strong and caused the Exceeds to perform a crash landing where Lucy took the brunt of her fall, not wanting anymore damage done to Natsu. Her vision starting to get blurry, Lucy tried to get up but was stopped halfway when the demon called Tempesta stood over them, his right arm surrounded with wind due to his Tempest Curse. "Have no fear." Tempesta said as he posed to strike. "You shall be sent to hell quickly." He finished as he lunged his hand forward towards a stun Lucy's chest…

…Only for it to be stopped by a flash of lightning appearing between the two. Standing before Tempesta was Laxus, his body covered in lightning as he held Tempesta's hand back with his own.

"I won't let you kill anyone else." Laxus growled as he pushed Tempesta back.

"Listen up you guys!" The lightning mage's voice roared loudly, catching the attention of all the Fairy Tail Mages, minus Makarov who was now not fighting only Jackal but several Tartarus grunts. "This fight is far from over! So quit crying like babies and focus finishing off these bastards once and for all!"

"Laxus…" Freed murmured before he and the rest of the Raijingshu wiped their faces. Other Fairy Tail mages did the same thing and some had hardened gazes on their faces now.

"As of right now the fate of the world nor anything else matters!" Laxus continued as he continued to overpower Tempesta. "If we allow these assholes to get away with this it will not only be the greatest shame of Fairy Tail! But the ultimate insult to Natsu's final efforts!" By then Laxus finally managed to throw back Tempesta, sending the demon crashing into trees. The lightning mage turned to look at the rest of the guild. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM HERE WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING AND SLEEP WELL AT NIGHT! DO YOU HEAR ME FAIRY TAIL!?"

The response were deafening roars from the other mages, their fighting spirit ignited once more. The last thing Lucy saw before she blacked out, still clutching Natsu, was all the mages of Fairy Tail charging Tartarus's forces

**(Flashback End, Present Time, Natsu's Funeral)**

Lucy had awoken two hours or so later and by then the battle was over. She learned from Mirajane that thanks to Laxus's words the guild struck Tartarus with renewed vigor ten times stronger. The battle had gone pretty quickly after that with the dark guild being overwhelmed by the vengeful mages of Fairy Tail. Makarov had done the most damage, especially when he had finally pounded Jackal to death.

Lucy also remembered that Natsu was dead. She recalled how loud she screamed in grieving agony as she recalled Natsu's blood covering her hands and cradling Natsu's lifeless body. The memory was so shocking that it took Erza _and_ Mirajane to calm her down. It took them fifteen minutes before Lucy finally settled down though she was still crying albeit softly. At the time no one could really blame her; the death of Natsu, someone who was so strong willed, brave, and caring for their friends, a person that was the physical embodiment of Fairy Tail like Natsu, it was a blow they might, no would, never fully recover from.

The rest of the week went by rather quickly. The guild building was destroyed and there were some mages that were wounded and needed a place to stay and recover. The part wasn't difficult, as those that had homes had no problems with making accommodations for their wounded nakama. In regards with Lucy, who was still in shock of what happened, the blonde celestial spirit mage stayed with the Strauss siblings since many members of the guild were concerned of her grief regarding Natsu's death.

Concerning the pink haired young man, the Fairy Tail mages had hoped to have a private funeral but apparently that was not meant to be. Somehow word of Natsu's death had spread to other parts of Fiore, resulting in many, mostly mages from other guilds traveling to Magnolia wanting to confirm it, not really believing it was true. But those were proven wrong the moment they saw Natsu's lifeless form.

And so now gathered at the cemetery were not just members of Fairy Tail but thousands of citizens of Fiore, mages of other guilds and even Princess Hisui, along with Arcadios and several soldiers of Fiore, acting as her escorts. Because everyone was wearing black, it would look like a pond of dark water from above. For not a single person was wearing a different color except for small assortments of attires.

With Lucy of the present she managed to calm herself so she could hear the ending of Makarov's speech. "…And so, in honor of Natsu's deeds and acts of valor and heroism I, as Guild Master of Fairy Tail, have decided that Natsu Dragneel's remains will be buried on Tenrou Island, the guild's holy ground where only one other person has been put to rest there, Mavis Vermilion, the founder and first Guild Master of Fairy Tail. I believe that it is a fitting place for one such as Natsu to sleep eternally, anywhere else would be insult to his memory." There were some looks of surprise from the audience but no one objected as Makarov continued. The small guild master turned around to face the coffin holding the Dragon Slayer's body. Makarov put a hand on the coffin. "Natsu know that you will never be forgotten and that even in death the flames of courage you wielded will last for all to the end of time…goodbye my child." Makarov said tears falling down his face at the end before he walked off the stage to join the rest of the crowd.

Soon people began to walk up to the stage, sometimes by themselves or in small groups. Most people put down flowers into the basket, slowly filling it up and a few, mostly those who were close to Natsu, stopped to say a few words, such as thank you or other kind parting words, before walking off. Some were more emotional then others, such as Sting Eucliff, the White Dragon Slayer deeply devastated over the death of his idol. Though he did swear to the pink head's grave that he would find Igneel in Natsu's place. Hisui had even placed a small banner with the royal emblem of Fiore on the bottom of the coffin, one of the greatest honors for anyone in the nation of Fiore to receive.

After several more people went by the last bunch was Team Natsu minus Happy who had said his goodbyes earlier with the Strauss siblings. Wendy was still crying and was being held by Erza who also had tears running down her face. Gray had his hands in his pockets and was trying to keep his tears in check and surprisingly was doing a good job minus the few strays that escaped.

Once they were done giving their goodbyes, only Lucy remained behind the rest of Team Natsu standing several distances away with Makarov to give the blonde some space as she said her farewells. As she placed a bouquet of roses in the basket before staring at the coffin, fresh tears still on her face as she looked at it. "Natsu" Lucy began, choking on the words before continuing. "I-I'm so, so sorry. If I were stronger…if I was stronger then you wouldn't have d-died." She clenched her hands into fists. "I swear I'll get stronger…for you so that…so that I'll never lose anyone else! Just you watch Natsu! I swear I'll get as strong as you were just you watch…"

Standing up Lucy gave the coffin once last look. "Goodbye Natsu I, I…" Fresh tears began to pour out again as her sentence was muffled. Turning away Lucy walked off to join the rest of the team and they all walked from the graveyard, leaving only Makarov as the sole person behind. The small master gave the coffin one last solemn look before he raised his hands, already glowing with magic. "May you rest in peace within the island of fairies and watch over future generations to come…Natsu. Farewell." Makarov said as he finally engulfed the coffin in a bright light before teleporting it to Tenrou Island. Once that was done Makarov eventually walked back home, ignoring the rain just as everyone else had.

**(Northern Region of Fiore)**

The deep parts of the northern region of Fiore were a wasteland, mixed with mountains covered in fire and lava. Rivers of lava move through the many cracks in the earth and smoke rose towards the sky, covering it in a thick grey blanket of it. The land was barren and there was no life in this wasteland either and even if there were, it wouldn't last long, quickly withering away and dying.

However standing on top of the highest cliff edge, where you could see the entire wasteland, was a person or a dragon to be exact. It was a large red dragon with a yellow underbelly, its wings folded currently. It had golden eyes and numerous scars on its face too, scars from battles from long ago. The dragon stared out towards the wasteland for a while before what sounded like a sigh escaped its lips. "It has been a while…hasn't it Mavis?" The dragon said, its voice distinctly male.

Floating behind the dragon was the spirit of the child-looking Mavis Vermilion, the founder and first guild master of Fairy Tail. "It has Igneel. Have you heard the news? You're son has died." Mavis asked curiously, watching for the Flame Dragon King's reaction.

Igneel didn't look at her but looked back at the wasteland. "I know" He replied simply, a lone tear escaping his eye. "But with Zeref dead that only leaves Acnologia…and _them._" Igneel said the last part with distaste.

Mavis nodded as she floated beside the red dragon a serious look on her adorable face. "A storm is approaching and I'm afraid that no one will be able to escape it. Not even the dragons." Mavis commented.

"Hmph I suppose so…but what side they take is of their own choice." Igneel replied with a snort, smoke coming out of his nostrils. "And I wouldn't call it a storm Mavis" Said person looked at the dragon. "I would call the coming war…an inferno."

"The flames of war eh?" Mavis commented. "I guess that's a fitting name…for something his brother will cause."

**Well here is the first chapter! I hope you like it and don't worry I'm still doing my "Prince of Fire" story so no need to fret. Anyway give me your reviews on what you think.**

**P.S. In case you're wondering or noticed a similarity, I got the idea for Natsu's death from Ace's death in One Piece.**

**Wacko12**


	2. A New Threat

**Second Chapter! Read, enjoy and review!**

_Lucy was running through the darkness, desperately trying to get out. She had no idea how she got here or for that matter where she was but Lucy had the inner feeling that she had to get out of here. She just kept running and running, searching for salvation, a way to escape from this darkness._

_Her long trek finally came to an end when Lucy spotted something. It was far away but she could make out a small spark of fire lighting up the darkness. Rather take her chance with that then walk in this never ending world of darkness Lucy made a quick dash towards the fire. As she got further Lucy began to feel a weird sensation in her, like the flames were familiar to her and that just made Lucy run faster._

_She was so close to the flames that Lucy reached out with her left hand, as if she was planning on grabbing it. But suddenly there was a flash of light followed by a weak voice saying, "Lu…cy?"_

_When the light died down the first thing Lucy saw was Natsu standing before her. And her hand had pierced right through his chest with his blood on her arm. His shocked eyes stared right back at her horrified eyes. Then everything went blank._

**(Real World, Lucy's Apartment)**

"NO!" Lucy screamed as she bolted up right in her bed. She blinked suddenly and realized that she was back in her bedroom, in her bed wearing her pajamas. Lucy's eyes were still wide open and sweat was going down her face. Her right hand was gripping her blanket tightly while she quickly checked her left hand. There was nothing on it, besides sweat, and definitely no blood at all. Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Mavis, it was just a dream…" Lucy muttered to herself before she looked around her room. It was then she realized that her alarm clock hadn't gone off; she must've forgotten to set the alarm on, Lucy figured. Fortunately it was still early in the morning so she hadn't overslept, which was a relief for her since Lucy would just feel very off kilter.

It had two years since the death of Zeref and Natsu as well as the fall of Tartarus and while the world kept on moving as it always has, much had changed in the guild called Fairy Tail. For starters there had been several new S-class Mages, said mages being Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, Juvia Lockseer, Freed Justine and Cana Alberona, much to the latter's joy since it had been her dream to become S-Class. Along with that rumor was it that Makarov was going to be retiring soon and give the title as Guild Master to his grandson Laxus. And in all honesty was the only fitting choice for the title since, not including Gildarts, Laxus was the strongest mage of Fairy Tail under Makarov. Also unlike Gildarts, Laxus actually stayed at the guild and unlike Erza, Laxus was good in dealing with affairs that could affect the guild and was better at socializing too (Though no one dare told Erza that up front, in fear of her wrath).

And speaking of changes and rumors, some new couples had been popping up within the guild. So far an official one was that Gray and Juvia were together and the reason why that was known was because the water mage had shout it out to the entire guild and had continued to mentioned it whenever she had the chance. And there were rumors that Laxus and Mirajane were seeing each other and the same with Elfman and Evergreen though no one had any proof. Lucy and several others hand noticed that Gajeel and Levy had been pretty close with one another though the Iron Dragon Slayer stubbornly denied anything going on between them. And the last thing was that there was a rumor that a certain Sky Dragon Slayer had a crush on Romeo Conbolt.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head Lucy decided to get out of bed and get ready to head towards the guild. She wore her normal attire along with her celestial keys, magic whip, the Fleuve d'étoiles, strapped to her waist along with a new item, the Braiser d'étoiles, another present from the Celestial Spirit World. The item was actually a black glove with a golden circle on the back of the palm and extending from it were several golden lines that went over the back of each finger.

Unlike the Fleuve d'étoiles, which was more suited for long range combat, the Braiser d'étoiles was made for close combat such as melee. Doing the same with her magic whip she could send her magic through her glove, causing the gold circle and lines to glow red, and strike her opponents with a powerful flame-infused punch. Some people who had seen it had said it was similar to Natsu's Fire Dragon's Iron Fist and Lucy for some reason, found that a good comparison. Also if she added enough magic she could fire a fireball the size of Happy that while not powerful could still cause damage. However she didn't use it all the time since it cost a lot of magic and Lucy still had trouble with the timing for releasing it. After checking herself in the mirror, a habit she had never dropped, Lucy left off for the guild.

In a few minutes Lucy arrived to the guild. Even in the early of morning a fight had already broken out. While normally fights were a regular occurrence since two years ago fights hadn't been happening much in the guild now. Now and then the male members of the guild would start a brawl and they would either finish it when they were all knocked out or when someone (mainly Erza) would put an end to it. However said woman hadn't arrived yet and everyone else was just fine with the fight, they would step in if it got worse. Right now the current fight consisted between Gray, Gajeel, Elfman and several other males of the guild. The girls along with Makarov, and most of the women of Fairy Tail were just sitting to the side and either watching the fight or minding their own business. Laxus or the Raijinshu weren't there either since they had left yesterday for a mission. Mirajane was at the counter cleaning dishes while Lisanna was giving Happy, who was now living with the Strauss siblings, a plate of fish for the Exceed to eat.

"Lu-chan!" Levy yelled over the noise, sitting at the bar counter, waving at the busty blonde. Lucy waved back and walked over to sit next to her best friend, who already had a book in her hand. Lucy quickly ordered a drink from Mirajane, with the silver hair maiden going to fulfill it.

"How long have they been at it?" Lucy asked as she watched the violent brawl in the center of the guild.

Levy shrugged. "Don't know. When Gajeel and I came here most of them were already at it before Gajeel got caught in the storm." Levy replied.

"Oh and why were you and Gajeel coming here at the same time?" Lucy asked her friend, a teasing smile on her face and eyes filled with mischief too.

The petite blue head's face turned into an interesting color of red at her friend's words. She had dropped her book while stuttering up a storm of what to say in response. It didn't help that Mirajane was nearby; if Lucy told the silver hair demon that Levy and Gajeel had come to the guild together who knows what concoctions Mira might come up with.

She was saved however when the front door burst open, revealing a stern-looking Erza with Wendy, looking a bit sheepish while holding Carla in her arms. Everyone, minus Makarov and Mirajane, froze as the mighty Titania appeared. She set her fearsome glare on those who were in the brawl who by then ceased their actions. "Are you people fighting again!?" Erza asked with her usual dominating voice.

"No ma'am!" All the men in the brawl shouted as they immediately got in a straight line with their forms stiff. They had their eyes looking upwards and not at the glare of one Erza Scarlet. Even after two years she still installed fear into those who dare cross her path. The redhead girl just gave them one last look before heading towards the request board and by then everyone else went back to their normal activities. However before Erza could reach the board the Master, who was actually sitting next to the request board, spoke.

"Ah just a minute Erza I need you to do something for me." Makarov said to the Titania.

"Is something wrong master?" Erza asked worriedly.

"Nah nothing's wrong." Makarov said, quelling Erza's fears. "I actually got a letter from the mayor of Oshibana requesting your assistance. Apparently dark mages that are part of a dark guild called Snake Blade have been spotted near the town. The mayor wanted to get rid of them right away so he requested your assistance in dealing with these guys." Makarov explained.

"Then I will leave right away." Erza said, bowing to the Master before turning around. "Lucy, Wendy, Gray, you three come with me to Oshibana to deal with some lowlifes." Erza said.

"What now?" Gray asked who had his shirt off.

"Yes now! Move!" Erza ordered, her voice leaving no room for objections.

"Aye!" Gray replied frightfully as he stood up quickly. Lucy giggled at the normal scene and quickly stood up to got ready to leave, with Happy behind her since he was still part of Team Natsu. The team's name hadn't change since they wanted to honor said person's memory.

"Are you sure I should come Erza-san?" Wendy asked the Titania. The past two years Wendy's skills with her magic have increased greatly. She wasn't near the level of the others but she could still be a formidable fighter. Along with her skills her confidence also got better though she could still be a little nervous sometimes. And finally being at the age of fourteen, her body was now beginning to develop in certain parts similar to the other girls in the guild. Erza nodded to the Sky Maiden in response before heading out with the rest of Team Natsu following behind her towards the train station their next stop being Oshibana.

**(Unknown Location)**

Somewhere in a valley within Fiore on top of a mountain was a person sitting on a log. The person, a male, wore a thigh length grey poncho that also had black trims and a high collar that covered his entire neck. Coming out from under his poncho was a black hood with red trims that was currently covering his entire face. The rest of his clothes were matching with the colors being black with red trims. His legs were sticking out as he sat on the log along with his right arm. You could see that he wore baggy black pants with red lines that was held by a black and red belt with two more straps coming out of the first one, each one going over each pant legs. The man also wore dark blue sandals that went past his ankles and only revealed his the front of his foot plus toes. Underneath his poncho was a sleeveless black vest with red lines that the hood was attached too. Finally he wore fingerless black gloves with red linings on them and had metal bands attached to the end of them.

The man was staring at an unlit campfire when a voice behind him spoke. "Master forgive my interruptions, but we've received word that people from the guild you wanted watched, Fairy Tail, is heading towards one of the targets."

The hooded man turned his head to see source of the voice. The person was an older man, in his late fifties to late sixties and was slightly taller then the hooded man and had tan skin and light blonde hair hair that stopped at his shoulders tied in a short ponytail. He wore a long white cloak with yellow trims over the sleeve collars, bottom of the cloak and in the front where the zipper was, a black scarf around his neck in the shape of a upside down U and a black and white shoes. A very unique feature was his eyes. The right eye was a normal blue eye but over his left eye was an eye patch with a yellow swirl symbol on it.

"Is that you Wandeln?" The hooded man asked as he went to stare back at the campfire. "Which area are they going too?" The man asked again.

"The one that's near Oshibana, Master." Wandeln replied. "Apparently the facility that its buried under is being used by some dark mages and the mayor hired Fairy Tail mages to clean them out."

The hooded man hummed in response before speaking. "Well let Aseza, Jian and Glanz know about it. This will be a good chance; we can begin our long awaited goal and see how strong these Fairy Tail mages are." The man replied with a smirk, forming under his hood. "By the way who are the mages?"

"The people are Lucy Heartifilia, a Celestial Spirit Mage, Gray Fullbuster, an Ice-Make Mage, Wendy Marvel, the Sky Dragon Slayer and the S-Class Mage, Titania Erza Scarlet." Wandeln replied.

"Eh, Erza Scarlet." The hooded man repeated. "That's even better. It will be interesting to see how long the person who he could never beat can last."

**(Outskirts of Oshibana)**

"So what's the place they're staying in?" Gray asked the red head armored mage. Surprisingly the Ice Mage was still fully clothed having somewhat managed to control his stripping habit.

Team Natsu had arrived at the town of Oshibana about an hour ago. The moment they got off the train they automatically headed towards the town hall to speak with the mayor. Said man had explained that about two or three months ago, suspicious looking people had been seen in town. It was by chance when some citizens overheard several of those shady characters mentioned the word "Snake Blade" it was clear that dark mages were setting up near Oshibana and the mayor wanted them gone fast.

"According to the mayor and eye witnesses the dark mages have been using an abandon building as their base of operations." Erza replied as she and the rest of the team walked through the woods. As they went deeper and deeper into the forest and further away from civilization, the more trees began to appear and crowd around them.

"What's a building doing all the way out here in the first place?" Lucy asked, since it seemed kind of weird for something to have been built so far away from civilization.

"The mayor said that it was a facility or something built by the Magic Council over 200 years ago before Oshibana was built or so he thinks. It was abandoned around thirty years ago though." Erza replied. "He's doesn't know the details of why it was built or why it was abandon but no one bothered to move it since they saw no reason too. And they didn't want to cause trouble with the council also. But it seems to now serve as a base for a dark guild."

"Wonder why it was abandoned? Or why it was built in the first place?" Gray asked out loud, not asking it to anyone in particular.

"That is not our mission." Erza replied sternly. "Our job is to take down this dark guild before they can terrorize the town."

Suddenly Wendy froze in mid step. Her eyes widened in surprise and then horror with her hands quickly covering her sensitive nose. Carla and Happy were the first ones to notice this. "Wendy, are you okay?" Carla asked the young dragon slayer.

"Do you smell something bad?" Happy asked since the dragon slayer had her hands on her nose. By then Erza, Gray and Lucy stopped walking to look at Wendy, who still had a terrified look on her face.

"I, I…" Wendy stuttered, trying to explain the horrible scent she could smell. "I smell…blood…"

That set on the warning alarms in everyone's head and the team soon ran forward towards where the facility was. They finally came into an opening and what they saw was something never thought to expect. Before them were the ruins of facility that was being used as the base for the dark guild Snake Blade and littering it were the bodies of the dark mages of said guild. Some appeared to have been torn apart by something fast and sharp, others had multiple holes through their bodies and there were even some that looked like they had been crushed to death by something. There were some spots that looked like they had been vaporized by something.

"W-what the fuck?" Gray muttered as he looked at the scene in shock.

"Looks like there was a fight here…a big one." Happy muttered as he hid behind Lucy's leg.

"This was no fight." Erza muttered. "This was a slaughter. The dark guild didn't even stand a chance."

"But who would do this? What would be the point of slaughtering a small dark guild?" Lucy asked as she stared in horror at the many corpses.

Erza was about to reply again when a buzzing sound caught her attention. "Do you guys hear-"

Her sentence was cut off when a beam flew at them from the front and when it made contact the spot where Team Natsu was standing exploded, with them in it. However when the smoke faded it revealed Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla lying on the ground with Erza standing before them in her Adamantine Armor and her shield out. She had managed to react in time and protect her and her friends from the attack. Thus the ground under their feet was unharmed with the ground around them having been vaporized.

"Whose there!" Erza shouted as she changed back to her Heart Kreuz armor and was now wielding her sword.

"I'm impressed that you managed to react to swiftly. And that you were able to stop my attack too." A male voice said. Team Natsu looked up and standing on part of a broken wall was a young tanned skin man wearing what appeared to be a sleeveless dark blue Arabian cloak with yellow trims with a matching cape that ended to at his waist over the cloak. Holding the cloak was a yellow sash around his waist and a second one across his chest from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist under his cape. The man also wore dark green sandals and from could be seen of his face, which was hidden by a dark blue bandanna and a mask that covered the bottom of his face, he had dark brown eyes and spiky black hair that went to his neck. On his left pointer finger was a golden ring with an orange gem embedded in it and golden wristbands on both of his wrists. The man had his arm crossed as he looked at the Fairy Tail mages.

"Oi! Are you the one who killed these people?" Gray yelled as he got up and stood beside Erza, with the others doing the same.

"My name is Aseza Capac and to answer your question, yes I was the one who killed these scumbags." The man identified as Aseza replied.

"You fiend! What is your purpose that you would slaughter them?" Erza demanded as she raised her sword and pointed it at Aseza.

"Hmph my comrades and I require something that is hidden within this facility and these fools were in our way. Getting rid of them this filth for society was just a bonus." Aseza replied before raising his right arm at the team, his palm open. On the palm was a symbol of what looked like a yellow moon with a fiery swirl going around and ending at a small dot in the center. "But I do not have to tell you people anything else…especially a redhead old hag such as yourself."

At the word "hag" Team Natsu minus Erza had gone comically pale white, body, clothes and all, and dumbfounded looks were on their faces. It was no big secret within the guild about Erza's inner desire to get married, even though the scarlet hair girl would deny it. As such it was an unspoken law not to say anything to Erza negative in that subject along with her age, though the latter was something all women hated. And right now this guy actually called Erza an old hag without a single hesitation. To them saying such words to the Titania was the same as signing a death warrant.

With said woman, she was still in the pose and had her sword pointed at Aseza, but now her body began to tremble, her head was down and her hair shadowed her eyes. A dark menacing aura began to form over her as Aseza's words kept repeating themselves in her head. Finally after a moment of waiting Erza lifted her head and an evil, and in some ways comical, look appeared in them as she glared at Aseza. The Titania now had a new desire at the moment: to beat the man into a bloody pulp.

"I. AM. NOT. A. HAG!" Erza roared as she leapt towards Aseza, all sense of strategy lost as she prepared to tear this man apart.

"Beam!" Aseza yelled and from his open right palm a beam of light magic, similar to the one before, shot out towards Erza. The beam was the size of Erza's chest and said woman had just snapped out of her rage to avoid the attack. But with her out of its path the beam headed straight towards the others. However Gray reacted quickly enough and slammed his right fist on his left palm. "Ice Make: Wall!" And a wall of ice appeared in front of Gray and the others, reflecting the beam.

Aseza frowned under his mask but had little time to think on that as Erza closed in one him. Quickly switching into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, Erza launched her attack. "Dance My Blades! Circle Sword!" Erza fired a barrage of swords that spread out in the shape of a circle. All the blades headed straight towards Aseza who remained surprisingly calm despite the dangerous attack coming towards him.

"What a pitiful attack. Beam: Rain!" He yelled as he fired another beam of light from the palm of his hand. However this time the beam divided midway into several beams of light. The multiple beams of light struck the swords, destroying them on contact and continued heading towards Erza. But the Titania quickly changed into her Flight Armor and easily dodged the beams as they exploded in the spot where she once stood. "Hoh, nice dodging that for someone whose over the marriage age." Aseza taunted.

That caused the scarlet hair girl to blush furiously. "S-shut up!" She yelled. Equipped with two swords, Erza charged at Aseza at incredible speed thanks to her armor. But despite that Aseza managed to dodge her sword strike with ease while at the same time looking at her carefully.

"Hmm, a woman mage of Fairy Tail that uses Requip magic." Aseza mumbled as he landed on another tree branch while Erza landed on one across from him. "Are you perhaps Fairy Tail's Titania, Erza Scarlet?" He asked.

"I am" Erza replied sternly as she raised her swords towards Aseza. To her surprise the man chuckled under his mask.

"Interesting. I would like to see how strong you are, since you're one of the people that he could never defeat." Azesa replied as he raised his right palm.

"He?" Erza asked but Azesa soon fired another beam of light, which she dodged and the two restarted their fight.

Back with the rest of Team Natsu, Gray was prepared to go back up Erza but was interrupted when something came flying at him. Gray had managed to make a small shield of ice to protect him but the impact still sent him flying backwards and crashing into the ground.

"Gray!" Lucy yelled before she turned to see what struck the Ice Mage. Said thing turned out to be a round golden shield attached to a chain. As the shield was reeled back, it revealed its wielder another male. This one was slightly larger then Aseza and looked like he was the same height as some of the taller males of Fairy Tail, like Elfman, Gajeel and Laxus for example. The guy was muscular but had a potbelly stomach too. The man was bald and had lighter skin color then Azesa. He wore round black glasses over his eyes, metal wristbands, sleeveless dark green flak jacket that was unzipped, revealing his stomach, dark blue baggy pants and black sandals. Strapped to his back was some kind of carrier bag with the other end of the chain that held the shield was sticking out. Said shield was currently dangling from the man's large right hand. Another feature was on the man's stomach was the same symbol that Azesa had but was orange. Lucy was the only one who saw it and saved it for later in case it could tell them who these people were.

Before the two Fairy Tail Mages and Exceeds could do anything a shadow over fell them. Happy and Carla were able to fly Lucy and Wendy out of the way before the four were almost flattened by something or someone to be in fact. As the person rose from the ground, the Fairy Tail mages were shocked at the third man's size. The man was fair skin, very muscular and about the same size as Taurus. He wore gold and silver battle armor that looked like Spartan armor. It consisted of a helmet that covered his entire face minus his eyes and had spikes going down the center on top, a chest plate that covered his back too and had spiked shoulder pads, armbands spiked kneecaps and greaves. Underneath his armor he wore a plain sleeveless sleeve black shirt, long tan pants, fingerless black gloves and red and white sneakers. What could be seen of his face were his eyes that were dark brown. Also on the man's gloves was the same symbol that the other two men had, except white.

Lucy and Wendy landed beside Gray, said Ice mage looking at the two newcomers. "These guys must be the comrades that the first one was talking about." Gray said.

With said two men, the shield man walked up to his larger companion. "Tch, you missed Glanz Arzt." The bald man said to his comrade.

The larger man, Glanz, merely grumbled, "I didn't know that those cats could fly so don't blame me Jian Duan." He said in response.

"Ice-Make: Lance" Gray's voice yelled. The two men looked and saw dozens of ice projectiles flying towards them. But while most people would panic when seeing hundreds of projectiles flying towards them, Glanz and Jian were actually calm. The latter soon smirked and gripping the chain in his right hand tightly, swung it and the shield forward towards the ice. The shield began to spin in midair with magic and easily swatted the ice lances to the side.

"The hell!" Gray shouted in surprise. While he was expecting the two men to either jump out of the way of the attack or get hit, this was the first time someone deflected his Ice Make: Lance with such ease.

"Heh do you think we'd get worked up about some petty attack like that?" Jian asked mockingly as he recalled his shield.

"Bastard…" Gray cursed, his shirt gone, as he prepared another attack. "Luce, Wendy I'll take care of him. You two deal with the bigger one."

"Ho looks like you've been called out Jian." Glanz said when he heard Gray's statement.

"Well we still got time before the thing activates." Jian said as he readied his shield. "Let's play with them until then!" He yelled as he threw his shield again. This time blades popped up around the edges and began spinning until the shield looked more like a buzz saw. Gray saw it and managed to create a shield of ice and just barely blocked the attack but was sent away from the others with Jian pursuing him.

Lucy cursed as she watched Gray move further away while fighting his opponent. "Okay Wendy, let's go. Happy and Carla you two back us up." Lucy said as she pulled out her magic glove, Braiser d'étoiles and put it on her left hand.

"Hai!" "Aye!" Wendy and the two cats said in response.

"Hmph don't speak with such confidence in the beginning of a fight!" Glanz shouted before charging at them with his left shoulder at the front. "Heavy Touchdown!" He yelled and suddenly Glanz picked up speed as he charged towards the two girls and cats. The four Fairy Tail mages barely got out of the way as Glanz zoomed passed them.

"That was close! He's faster then he looks!" Happy exclaimed.

"I've only see Jet-san move as fast as that." Wendy added.

"I think it might be the same magic as Jet. High Speed magic!" Lucy exclaimed as she realized the connection. At the same time she pulled out two of her golden keys.

"Do you believe you have the advantage just because you know one of my magic that you can achieve victory?" Glanz asked as he faced them. "Because if in that case I've got you two beat!" He added as he dashed forward towards them again.

"Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy cried as she raised one of her keys and it glowed and out came Taurus with his Labrys right above Glanz.

"Mooo! I'll protect Lucy's amazing body!" Taurus saying his usual introduction phrase as he brought his axe down on the large male mage. But to everyone's surprise, a smirking Glanz grabbed the blade of the weapon with his hand easily. Though the impact caused the ground beneath Glanz's feet to crack and break under the weight of it all. But Lucy was the first to come over her surprise and then smirked, something that Glanz noticed.

"Now Gemini!" Lucy yelled. And then behind Glanz the two Celestial Spirit twins appeared before glowing, using their Copy Magic too take the form of Taurus, including the bull spirit's Labrys.

"_She summoned two spirits and used the first one to hold me in place so the other could attack me from behind?" _Glanz thought as the Taurus double closed in on him from his rear.

But the Fairy Tail Mages were once more in for a surprise when _another_ pair of arms popped out from Glanz's back and grabbed the Labrys of the second Taurus. "What the!?" Lucy cried in shock.

"He can grow arms out of his body?" Carla asked bewildered.

However Glanz wasn't done just yet. With a smirk he said, "Front-Rear Palm Heave Ho!" And suddenly the two Taurus were sent flying by two more pairs of arms, one on the front and the other out the back. The force caused both Taurus and Gemini, the twins having already returned to their original form, to be sent back to the Celestial Spirit World.

"I must admit that is impressive too summon not jus two spirits but two _Zodiac _spirits at the same time." Glanz said to a still shock Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla. "But I hope you haven't forgotten that I said that High Speed was just one of my magic. Twin Giant Hands!"

Suddenly two large arms arose from the ground near Lucy and Wendy before lunging down at them, trying to grab the two female mages. But Lucy was able to jump out of the way while Wendy yelled, "Sky Dragon's Claw!" And struck one of the hands with a strong wind slash. The attack caused the giant hand to dissipate right on contact.

But Glanz was upon Wendy in a matter of seconds, his arms raised and ready to pound the dragon slayer into the ground. However before that could happen Lucy appeared between him and Wendy with her left arm raised, her magic glove glowing red, filled with magic. With a strong heave Lucy slammed the Braiser d'étoiles right into Glanz's stomach, releasing the burning magic from the glove in the attack. The magic-infused punch sent Glanz backwards several feet and caused the man to land on his rear. The attack left a dent in his armor but apparently Glanz still felt the attack because he was breathing harshly, the air knocked out of him. But he quickly recovered and got back up, a smirk under his helmet while his eyes glared at the two girls.

"Perhaps this will be more fun then I thought." He muttered.

**(With Gray)**

"Ice-Make: Hammer!" Gray shouted as he formed a giant hammer of ice and swung it at Jian. But the larger man merely raised his shield and it began to glow. When the hammer made contact with it, the hammer shattered and Gray was sent flying back a bit. This was the fifth time that Jian's shield had managed to repel Gray's ice spells and it was really getting to the Ice Mage.

"You serious?" Jian asked as his shield's glow died down. "I'm not degrading my own skills, but if my Mirror Shield was able to deflect that attack easily then you're really weak." He said mockingly as he spun his shield around lazily with the chain.

"Don't get cocky asshole!" Gray replied, angered that this man was calling him weak. Slamming his hands together Gray yelled, "Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!" And then he slammed his hands on the ground, causing dozens of ice spikes to come out around Jian and effectively impaling him…or so Gray thought. Using his shield's blades, Jian easily cut the ice spikes in half, not taking any damage at all.

"Ha! Can't you try anything-huh where did he go?" Jian said when he saw Gray had disappeared from his spot.

"Ice Make" Gray's voice said. Jian looked up and saw that the Ice Mage was in the air above him and with a cannon made of ice in his hands. "Ice Cannon!" And firing out of Gray's cannon was a cannonball made of ice heading towards Jian at rapid speed. But once again Jian surprised Gray as the larger man shouted, "Iron Shield!" And Jian fired his shield that had taken on a dark grey color this time. When the shield struck the ice cannonball, the ice projectile was broken in half easily. Gray had little time to figure this out as the shield kept going and soon struck the Ice Mage in the stomach, making Gray spit out blood and crash back into the ground.

Jian watched as Gray got back up. The Ice Mage seemed a bit fatigue and was covered in bruises with a trickle blood down his chin. "Heh you're pretty sturdy for someone who hasn't been able to land a hit on me. Though how you could even remotely be his rival with those skills is beyond me." Jian commented.

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Gray asked before a crash near him caught his attention. To his surprise, the source of the crash was none other then Erza, currently equipped in her Black Wing Armor, or what was left of it. The armor's wings were torn off and the armor had several dents in it, revealing a bit of her figure such as her cleavage. That's what you usually get for wearing powerful and revealing armor.

"Oi Erza, are you okay?" Gray asked the scarlet hair girl as she got back up and changed back into her Heart Kreuz armor.

"Yes I am fine!" Erza replied as she glared at Aseza who joined Jian. The man had his arms crossed like before and an impassive look in his eyes. Her opponent had no injuries on his person do to his light magic, which Erza learned was not only focused on firing beams of light but also turn his own body into light to avoid physical blows. "I underestimated them. They're a lot stronger then I anticipated." Erza muttered.

"Yeah I hate to say it but these guys are definitely S-class level." Gray commented.

Jian looked at Aseza. "Yo Aseza you seem pretty good for someone taking on the legendary Titania." Jian commented.

"She is a skilled fighter I give her that, but the stories of her skills seem to have been exaggerated." Aseza replied before letting out a sigh. "I was hoping that she be more of a challenge if he could never defeat her." He added.

"He, he, he, he!" Erza roared as she slammed her foot on the ground, causing Gray to jump at the Titania's sudden anger. "During our fight you've been saying he all the damn time! I demand to know who _he_ is!?"

"What are you an idiot?" Jian asked. Erza gave the large man her famous glare but he didn't seem the lightest bit intimidated.

"The person we're talking about is someone whose power is equaled to that of the one who leads us. And he is someone you know very well." Aseza added with his eyes closed. Then he opened them and stared at the Requip Mage and Ice Mage with a harden stare. "Natsu Dragneel-sama"

That was not what Erza was expecting and neither was Gray too. Both had shocked expression on their face, with the Ice mage wondering why these guys were speaking Natsu's name so formally. But before they could ask any further the ground began to shake. They along with everyone else paused in what they were doing as they turned towards the source of the quakes, the ruined facility. As the building came down, causing dust to appear, something arose from within the fallen ruins. Something that shocked the Fairy Tail mages their opponents were calm, in fact they were smirking. "So it's begun." Aseza said out loud to himself.

However Erza heard him. "What is that? What have you fiends done?" She demanded.

But Aseza nor his comrades replied as the rising object finally appeared through the dust. Said object was actually a giant red obelisk on a black double-layered cube that floated several feet above the ground. The obelisk was radiating magical power, which took the form of red wisps of flames that came off the red stoned object.

"The hell is that thing?" Gray yelled as he stared at it. Sweat began to go down his body and it wasn't just because he was nervous. The magic radiating from the obelisk felt like powerful flames spewing out everywhere.

"It's radiating an incredible amount of magical aura too!" Carla said from her spot beside Happy as they, Lucy and Wendy managed to regroup with Erza and Gray.

Suddenly seven yellow rings appeared and surrounded the obelisk. Within each ring were different kanjis: Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Extended Net, Wings and Chariot. "That's Organic Link Magic!" Erza commented as the rings soon began to spin around the obelisk, going faster and faster forming a glowing yellow ring. And just as it started the ring of light vanished, leaving only the obelisk. But the obelisk was different now because on all four sides of the obelisk were four replicas of the seven rings place on top of each other. Then the obelisk vanished in a poof of smoke before everyone's eyes.

Gray was the one to break the long moment of silence after that little spectacle. "What the fuck…" He murmured but his sentence was cut off when a blinding flash appeared out of nowhere. The bright light caused the Fairy Tail mages to shield their eyes and all they could do was listen to Aseza's voice. "Though we would stay longer to play, with our assignment we shall take our leave. Farewell, Fairy Tail."

"Wait!" Erza shouted but she couldn't do anything with the blinding light in her eyes. When the light finally died down Erza and the rest of Team Natsu saw that their adversaries were gone just like the obelisk was moments before.

"Damn…who the hell were those guys?" Gray asked no one in particular.

"Whoever they were they were very strong." Wendy commented since she had seen how pressured Erza was when she fought that Azesa person.

"Did anyone else notice that they had matching symbols on parts of their bodies?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe they're from another dark guild." Happy suggested.

"That would be the most logical explanation." Carla said in agreement as she stood beside Wendy. "But what was that obelisk thing that came out of the facility? Clearly it was their objective judging from their reaction."

"What do you think Erza?" Lucy asked the Titania, but she was met with silence. "Erza?"

The scarlet hair girl's back was facing them, and she was oddly quiet. But at the same time the others began to feel a dark aura that made them shiver, as it was all to familiar to them, especially Gray who had many times been on the receiving end. "E-E-E-Erza…?" Lucy asked again, albeit this time nervously.

After another moment of silence Erza finally spoke. "I don't know who they are…or what that object was…" Her voice was calm and even but that only seemed to terrify her friends even more. "But that bastard, Aseza, I'll remember that name and what he said…old hag…past the marriage age…THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM I AM GOING TO FUCKING MURDER HIM!" She roared into the heavens, fist clench, her hair flying and Erza's body suddenly ignited on fire.

Her friends all leapt back a fair distance due to the sudden appearance of flames from the Titania. "Erza-san is on fire!" Wendy exclaimed.

"The flames of her rage!" Gray added in terror.

**(That Night)**

The hooded man was sitting at his usual spot, staring at the campfire that now had a fire going this time. On his left sitting on the ground cross-legged and calmly reading a book was Wandeln. The flames gave a good light for the older man to read his book.

Sitting on the right side of the hooded man was a young girl, no more then seven to eight-years old. She had light tan skin with brown hair that went down to her neck and a red hairpin on the left side of her head. She also had big brown eyes that shined with innocence and joy. Her attire consisted of a hood long-sleeve orange cloak that practically covered her entire body except for her feet. She also wore blue sandals and had a yellow beaded bracelet around her left wrist and under her cloak she wore dark green shorts and a red T-shirt. The girl was currently sitting on a rock, staring at the fire while kicking her feet in the air.

Suddenly the girl's feet stopped moving as she raised her head from the fire. The hooded man took note of this. "Is something wrong Mirum?" He asked the young girl kindly.

The girl looked back at him with a cheerful smile. "Aseza is back, Haru-sama." She said.

The hooded man, now identified as Haru, turned around slightly and saw Aseza kneeling before him. "Ah Azesa, you're back so soon. Did your mission go well?" Haru asked.

"Hai Haru-sama" Aseza said quickly. "The force of dark mages did not hinder our mission and we managed to plant your Seven Moons spell on the obelisk."

"Yes the item has just appeared." Haru said as he raised his right hand. Floating a few inches above the palm of his hand was a miniature version of the obelisk. Haru made it disappear again before speaking to Aseza. "Did the Fairy Tail mages come?" He asked.

"They did Haru-sama as your message said." Aseza replied.

"And how were they?" Haru asked.

"Their skills were…impressive." Aseza said. "Especially Erza Scarlet. But they weren't as strong as I had imagined them to be. I must confess I am confused as to how Natsu-sama could never defeat Erza Scarlet, someone who is so easily angered by simple comments." Aseza commented.

Haru smiled. "No need to worry about such things Aseza. You and your team did a good job, you earned your rest." Haru replied.

Aseza bowed respectfully before disappearing. With that done Haru returned his gaze back to the fire a small smile on his face.

Wanlden looked at the younger man. "Haru-sama…"

"Yeah I know…" Haru replied, not moving his gaze from the flames. "Always holding back…good grief you never change…Natsu."

**And here's the second chapter! Hope you liked it and the fight between Team Natsu and the three mages. The new item Lucy has actually came out of nowhere really but it seems to fit in well. Anyway leave a review on what you think. On a side note do you know what would be interesting to see? A story where Natsu acquires the Spirit of Fire from Shaman King.**

**Braiser d'étoiles is French for Inferno of Stars**


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